Moral Plight
by NoHonor
Summary: Marco Diaz is in the darkest time of his life. Star learns of a horrible incident that happened to him, she and her friends search for Marco in order to help him. But as they find him they learn he's no longer the same boy they once knew. Marco has grown cold and vengeful. Half his friends believe he is right, half believe he is better than that. And he's not sure who to listen to.
1. Chapter 1

Star felt terrible.

It had been nearly nine months since last she was Earth. Nine months since she last saw her Earth friends. Nine months since she talked to Marco. Since Eclipsa had appointed her as the new and official Mewman-Monster delegator she has been finding herself with less and less free time with her new job.

It had been six years since Eclipsa's coronation and Globgor was freed from Rhombulus's crystal. Many people had felt uneasy about the Plucker of Limbs being their king, but as time passed, people grew to trust in their monstrous king and queen of darkness more and more. The Mewni and Monster relations have been growing stronger, and not to toot her own horn but Star felt she had a large part in that. In fact, things were going so well that a new generation of Mewni-monster hybrid children have just begun to be born. She and Eclipsa felt she deserved a break, and Star thought of no better way than visiting her favorite Earth family: the Diazs.

As she stepped of out of her portal in front of the Diaz residence the first thing she noticed was that it had been repainted. Its red tiled roof now covered a beige building, no longer the familiar white bricks. Not to mention there was a severe lack of cacti in their front lawn. But neither of those things were as strange as the new person who answered the door after she knocked, expecting to see Rafael or Angie with her little daughter Mariposa. Or best of all, her best friend Marco Diaz.

"May I help you?" Asked the man.

"Hello, I'm Star Butterfly. I came to visit the Diazs. Are you a guest stay here?" At first the man looked confused, then that soon changed to a realization.

"Oh, uh… Sorry kid but this is my home. You must be talking about the family that last lived here. Did you not hear what happened?"

"Heard what?" Star was confused. "Ugh, don't tell me they moved. Marco, how could you not tell me this? Sorry, do you know where they are now?" An uneasy expression was on the stranger's face.

"Sorry kid but, the Diazs didn't move. They ****." At first Star didn't hear what he said. Or she just denied what he said. She kept insisting that she learn where they were staying, but the man kept saying the same thing over and over until he finally closed the door on her.

At first, she didn't process what had happened, then the denial began to fade and she didn't know how to process the information at all. So many emotions hit her all at the same time as tears began to roll down her heart-shaped cheeks, and before she decided to run to the one person she knew who would have all the answers, she had found that she was already at the step and banging on the door frantically.

"Star?" Janna was surprised to see her friend. But more surprised to see state she was in.

"Ja-Ja-Janna! Tell-Tell-Tell me it's no- it's no- it's not true!" Star tried letting out a coherent sentence but found it impossible with how exhausted she felt and the tears pouring out her eyes. And Janna now realized why Star was here and guided her inside to the living room and sat her on the couch. After some time, Star was able to calm down a bit and was demanding answers, but Janna's face already told her everything.

"It's trues Star. Their dead." It hit Star like a ton of brick. Now in a right state of mind and hearing it from a reliable source she faced the truth. "It happened seven months ago. They were found dead in their own home. Someone had broken in and… attacked them. Police never gave a full description of how it happened, but from how the public could see from outside the house… it wasn't clean Star."

Star broken down crying again. The closest people she knew, people she considered a second family had died and she never knew about it.

"There's something more you need to know Star. Marco's body wasn't at the crime scene."

"Marco?" Star was shocked. She thought her best friend was gone too, but now there may have been a silver lining, if that's what you could call it.

"Nobody's seen Marco since the incident. Police think that maybe the killer kidnapped him. And there's been no reports of his body being found so he could still be alive Star."

"WHAT? Well we have to find him! He could be in danger! I'll tell Eclipsa, she'll help." Star was frantic. Finding Marco was her top priority now. But before she could transform and open a portal to Mewni Janna stopped her.

"No Star, there's still more that you need to know." Star was pulled back onto the couch. "I snuck into the Diazs house while there weren't any cops around and snooped around. The main site looked really bad Star, after I checked Marco's room and saw that a number of his things were missing. Most of it was clothing but also things you would need if you were on the run and had to slip away quickly. The cops haven't released a public report, but I think that they think Marco may have been the culprit."

Star's world sank even lower.

"What are you talking about Janna?! Marco would never do that! He loves his family! He could never do such a thing!"

"Loved his family Star. He loved them." Janna corrected her to past tense. "And you're right. I know he wouldn't be able to do it; he could never do it. And everyone else who know him thinks the same. But looking at it objectively: a twenty-one-year-old vanishes without a trace with a number of run-away items right after his family's murdered. That starts connecting a few dots. But there's no evidence that he did do it, it's probably just a working theory for them. In reality there's only three logical explanations that they are probably thinking: he's either the culprit, he found his family already dead and ran away out of fear, or he was kidnapped. The first two don't sound like Marco at all and I can't think of the third happening without a fight."

"Your right…" Star tears began to dry up and she began gathering herself as she heard a key phrase to what Janna said. "Marco wouldn't run away, not without going to his friends first, and there'd be no better place than Mewni where he could both hide and be protected. Janna, I don't think Marco ran away or was kidnapped! I think he ran after whoever did it! Marco is somewhere out there in the universe trying to find the culprit! And he needs his friends!" Star was looking like her determined self again. "Janna, is Jackie still in Echo Creek?"

"Uh, yeah Star. What do you need her for?"

"Wherever Marco is he's probably not in the right state of mind. He's hurt, probably alone and scared. He needs us Janna. Tell Jackie to meet us here, I'm calling Tom and Kelly to meet us at my room in the castle."

"Sure thing but what are we gonna do? You can't portal to Marco if you don't know where he is."

Star had gathered herself. She grieved with Janna long enough and knew she could grieve longer after. But crying was for later, now that she knew her friend was in danger and she became a woman on a mission.

"Don't worry Janna, I have a plan."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm here!" Jackie Lynn Thomas let herself though the door. It had been nearly a year since Star last saw her, but in these last few minutes it had felt like forever. As soon as she saw Star she rushed over and embraced her. "Star, I'm glad you're here."

"Hi Jackie." Star still had tears in her eyes, but refused to cry. Not a lot had changed between the three of them in their appearance since they were kids, the only noticeable difference is that Jackie had begun growing her hair out, it was down to her shoulder blades.

"So, you heard what happened?" Star nods as they break away. "Yeah… it was awful when we found out and we've no idea where Marco could be. But Janna said you might have an idea?"

"I do. But first we're going to Mewni to meet Tom and Kelly and filling them in on what's happening." Star opened a portal and the three walked through. On the other side was Star's room in the Monster Temple; there, her two friends were waiting. Not much has changed with Kelly in the last few years either, but Tom had grown a bit more muscular and began growing a goatee.

"Hey Star, what's going on? When you told me to grab Kelly you sounded pretty tense. Something the matter?" Star filled her two friends in on what she had discovered not long ago. Slowly their expressions turned to a grim horror.

"You can't be serious?" Kelly's eyes began welling and Star gave a sad nod.

"Oh man, Marco must feel terrible. Okay Star, so what's your plan?"

"Okay, I use the All Seeing Eye spell to locate Marco. From there I'll be able to see where he is, and with luck, I'll be able to portal us straight to him; if not then we'll have figure what dimension he's in and start scouring from there. Surely, we won't be too far from him. When we find him, we do our job as his friends and help him though this and bring him back to Mewni so he can gather himself." No one argued.

Star chanted the spell and the purple and yellow flaming eye appeared. The spell began to peal back to show them what they wanted to see, but nothing was revealed and the eye appeared again with a purple X in the center.

"What the…?" Star was confused why her spell didn't work, so she tried again but came to the same result. Frustrated, she transformed into her butterfly form and chanted again with more determination, and still the same. "Why isn't the spell working!?"

"Star, what's going on?" Jackie was the one to ask as everyone began to grow more worried.

"I don't know, this has never happened before. I don't… I don't think I can't find Marco."

"Then what do we do now?"

"Eclipsa! She created the spell. Maybe she'll have better luck at finding Marco." Before Star was able to rush off Tom stoped her.

"Star, Glossaryck once said you were one the strongest Butterflies he's met. If you can't do it, I don't think she'll have any better luck than you did. We need to think of a different solution. I'll go back to the Underworld and organize a search party you go talk to Eclipsa about doing the same, I'm sure she'll help. Don't worry, we'll find Marco"

"What about Hekapoo?" Everyone looked at Kelly. "If we're trying to find someone lost in another dimension don't you think we should go to her for help? I mean she knows every dimension and can clone herself countless times."

"That's right, Hekapoo will surely help us find Marco! And with her help it'll take no time at all." Star opened a portal to Hekapoo's forge, on the other side was Hekapoo tending to Nachos and her own dragoncycle. The two creatures stared at the visitors, catching Hekapoo's attention.

"Well, well, well, look at this rag-tag group come walking up to my doorstep. Star, Kelly, what brings you and your friends to my doorstep?"

"Hekapoo, we need your help finding Marco." Kelly was the one to talk to her. "His family was murdered and we have no idea where he might be, he could be in a lot of danger. You have to help us find him."

A silence fell over everyone. At first everyone thought Hekapoo needed a moment to fully process what she was told. Then the one eye Hekapoo didn't keep covered with her hair looked away from them. "So you know about that, huh?"

Everyone was shocked. Those five words hit them harder than the news most of them learned today.

"YOU KNEW!?" Star was enraged. "How long did you know? How'd you find out?"

"Seven months ago. Marco came to me and told me everything. He said he needed to find the person who killed his family and needed my help to do so." Everyone could see how ashamed she was, how guilty she felt. But that didn't stop Star's anger or how betrayed she felt.

"You knew all this time AND you helped him?! All this time I've known you, that I've worked with you. You knew what Marco went through and would have needed help with and you didn't tell me? Or anyone for that matter?"

"It's not like I didn't want to tell you!" Hekapoo took a stand to defend herself before things could get any more out of hand. "He made me promise him. It was Marco that didn't want you guys knowing where he went or what he was doing… you don't get it. When he came to me, he wasn't the Marco I recognized. He seemed colder, angry, and to be honest, scary. He didn't threaten me or hurt me, he just talked to me with determination, but there was something behind all that that sent a shiver down my spine. Marco scared me. Actually, scared me! And when I found the dimension the guy he was look for was in he told me to not tell you guys about it, and to make sure that you couldn't find him."

Everyone was confused, and a bit shaken. The way Hekapoo told the story seemed like she was a victim. She looked like she was about to break down, show everyone a side of her she'd never shown anyone. Seeing Hekapoo like this, Star understood now that the situation was more complicated than she originally anticipated and calmed down.

"Okay, so he didn't want us knowing where he went. But why didn't he want us to find him, and why di he come to you?"

"He never said aloud what he was planning, but his eyes said it all. He didn't tell you guys and didn't want to be found because he knew you'd try to stop him. That's why he came to me, because he knew I wouldn't try to stop him or talk him out of it. Sometimes, I think he didn't come here for help, but to ask for permission…" She trailed off, every word was another nail in everyone's heart, another feeling of betrayal.

"Hekapoo, we can't imagine what Marco's going through, or why he would want to keep us in the dark. But whether he knows it or not, he needs us. He needs help. Please, take us to him." There was no response from Hekapoo. She was contemplating what to do. One way or another she would be betraying one party. One side was what Marco wanted; another is what Marco needed.

"Okay, I'll take you to him. But I warn you, you may not be ready for what we find. Lie I told you: he's not the same Marco anymore." She opened a portal. Everyone relaxed a little now knowing that they were given a break, that finding Marco wouldn't be too difficult a journey they thought and thanked her. All Hekapoo said in a low voice as she lead the way through the portal was: "Don't thank me yet."


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark on the other side of the portal. At first, everyone thought that it was night in this dimension, but as they observed more closely to the forest they were in, they noticed that everything was just black. Black trees with black leaves, black grass, black foliage, black stones. The only thing they notice that wasn't devoid of any colour from this world was what little of a yellow sky they could see through the foliage.

"Cool." Commented Janna, really enjoying the scenery.

"Come on, he should be just a bit farther." Hekapoo led the way through the forest until they met up with a second Hekapoo who was peering over a hill, she was easy enough to spot as she was the only thing that could be noticed.

"What the heck is going on?" Asked the second Hekapoo who turned to face the group. "I thought you said you wouldn't bring them?"

"Well, the plan's changed. They're determined to find him and I doubt they would've left without me giving them some information. Either they may actually be able to help him, or they'll get the same message I did and learn how futile this all is. Is he down there?"

"Yeah, he's down there. He went out on another tracking excursion a few days ago and got back late last night. You guys couldn't have come at a worse time though, he's always in the worst mood when he comes back emptyhanded." With that the clone disappeared, her role no longer needed.

"So not only did you keep this from us, but you were also helping him?" Star accused Hekapoo. She was glad Hekapoo agreed to help them but was still unhappy with her withholding information.

"I wasn't helping him!" Hekapoo was getting annoyed at the constant accusation, but she couldn't get mad because she knew she was in the wrong. "After finding out which dimension the person Marco was looking for was in, he didn't ask for anything else, he just told me not to tell anyone and left. I was worried about him so I sent a clone to observe and report anything of importance. And for your information, if something bad were to have happened to him while he was here, that's when I would have stepped in and told you about it."

They continued marching down the hill. At the bottom was a cabin made from the forest's black trees, smoke could be seen from behind it. As they approached, they could hear the clanging sound of metal hitting metal.

"Let me do the talking," Hekapoo said as she leads them around the back of the cabin. "He's not going to happy to see us, and less so with me for bringing you. But he'll listen."

There was nothing too remarkable about what they saw from the front of the cabin, just a door on their left side and a window to the right. But behind the cabin was what looked like a combination of a training ground with three logs standing upright scattered away from the cabin and a blacksmithing station. The logs looked like they had been struck by sharp tools with marks that ran up and down them. A stone forge was against the cabin that caused the smoke they saw earlier, all sorts of tools, grindstone, anvil, tanning rack, a few crude-looking swords and a dummy wearing parts of armour pieces. And on a workbench facing away from them was Marco, hammering at a plate of metal to bend it into shape. In his left hand were tongs to hold the metal and a hammer in his right.

Hekapoo waited until he lost his rhythm for a pause in between his swings, and in a clear stern voice she said, "Marco, we need to talk." That had gotten his attention, but he didn't turn around, instead, he went back to hammering his plate.

"What do you want Hekapoo? Surely that clone told you I didn't want you or her poking around my business anymore." He didn't sound like Marco. He wasn't far from them but sounded distant, his voice had no emotion behind it, not even annoyance. He just spoke with demand.

"Is that how you greet visitors like us these days?" It was the 'us' that caught Marco's attention and stopped him from his work. He turned to face his friends, and they could see how visibly he had changed in half a year.

He only wore a dirty T-shirt so they could see he had grown more muscular, a bit larger and more well defined than Tom had but not as big as he did in the Neverzone. His hair had grown out a bit and he kept what would hang in front of his face and the sides tied back in a ponytail. But his eyes were what everyone noticed the most. They were hard eyes, with a cold and intimidating stare that made everyone shudder a little, and black marks underneath each.

He set his tools down and faced them properly. "I told you not to tell them. Not to bring them!"

"Why yes Marco, I have been doing just fine. Thank you for asking. And how are you? Still hell-bent on this eternal vendetta that will likely get you killed?" Hekapoo replied in a sarcastic, if not aggravated, tone. Marco didn't take too kindly to it and walked away from them towards the front of the cabin.

"Marco, wait!" Star cried as everyone but Hekapoo chased after him. By the time they caught up he had already gotten inside and locked the door behind him and closed the shutters to all the windows around his cabin. "Marco, open the door! We came to help you! We're your friends!"

"Take everyone and leave Star. I don't need your help, and I don't want it either. You came for a lost cause."

"Marco," Jackie called to him now. "You're hurt. You went through a traumatic experience. Talk to us, we want to help you."

"Yeah dude," Janna added in. "Everyone's been totally worried about you. We didn't come all this way for a rejection."

No reply. There was dead silence from inside.

"You see?" Hekapoo had joined them, her arms crossed. "He's shut himself off. Marco doesn't want anything to do with any of us anymore. He only cares about one thing now, and it doesn't involve us. He hasn't cut us out, he's forsaken himself and doesn't plan on changing."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Star Rainbow Fist Punched the door down and stormed in.

Inside was just as dark as you would expect from making a cabin out of black wood. Candles hung from the walls to help illuminate the room. Sitting in the far-right corner was Marco, sitting at a table for one with a candle on top and his back turned to them again, and what looked like a whiskey bottle in his hand. And from what they could see scattered around the floor with limited light, it wasn't the only one he's had since he got here.

Star marched towards him, knocking glass bottles out of her way and grabbed Marco by a ragged red hoody he now wore, facing him to her. She wasn't expecting to find him having a new attitude like this or to have a door locked on her and it was getting on her nerves.

"Okay, Marco Diaz, you are going to stop wallowing in your self-pity, you're coming back to Mewni with us, we're getting you cleaned up, and we are going to fix you." She said in a commanding tone.

"Help?" Marco glared at her with a cold look. He put the bottle on the table and slapped Stars hands off of him and stood up. "You can't help me Star! None of you can help me, you won't help me!"

"Of course we'd help you, we're your friends Marco."

"Oh sure, you'd be there to talk to me, ask me if I was all right, be the shoulder for me to cry on. But that's not what I need Star, I need to find the man who killed my family!" Everyone was shocked. Not because of his dismissive attitude, but because how openly he mentioned his family without hesitation.

"Yes we would Marco, we would help you look for him if it meant the rest of our lives."

"And what about after we find him? Would you be there for me for what I would want to do after we find him?" That gave Star pause. She had no idea what Marco's intentions were, but from the small clues, she could guess.

"And, what do you want Marco?"

"To kill him!" Star and everyone else's suspicions were confirmed. "He killed them Star! And from what I saw when I got home it wasn't a quick death. He played it out, let them live long enough to know there was no other outcome. They lived long enough to know death was staring them in the face. My parents… my sister. And it was my fault they died!"

The air was sucked out of the room. Marco didn't cry even after recounting the tale or how he accused himself. His eyes weren't even wet, they were smouldering with rage. He was past grieving and was driven by a new purpose in life. That's what Star thought.

"Marco," Star spoke in a soft voice and put a hand on his arm. "What happened to your family wasn't your fault. That's the survivor's guilt talking. You think that because you weren't there when it happened you weren't there to protect them, you think you could have saved them if you were there. And you certainly could have, but you can't change what happened. Please, don't push us away again."

"That's where you're wrong Star." He ripped away from her and walked towards a cot at the front right corner of the room. He reached under the pillow and pulled out a knife, only to slammed it blade first into the table. "It was my fault."

It was a double-edged knife with a blue leather grip and a crossguard of two entwining metals that looked silver and gold and slightly curved towards the handle.

"This knife belonged to someone I knew, someone I thought I would never meet again." He faced everyone with a serious and grim expression as he recounted the tale.


	4. Chapter 4

"It was during my scissor quest. I found a man unconscious in the middle of nowhere, so I tended to him. When he woke up, he told me his name was Targil, and he was a traveller who had run out of food days ago. We bonded that day and decided to travel together, I was on a mission, and he felt indebted to me so it made sense.

"As we travelled, we grew closer and became good friends. I thought Targil to be a good person, but little by little his true nature revealed itself. Whenever had to fight our way out of a situation, I noticed Targil would act more and more cruel through each fight, particularly those we had to shed blood or kill something. And his attitude towards others, those he thought weaker than himself became more demanding. At first, I thought nothing of it or that he would get caught up in the moment. Then he crossed a line.

"I found a girl, she mustn't have been older than seventeen, and she lay dead in front of Targil. He didn't even try to hide the fact. When I confronted him, he was confused as to why I was angry with him. He told me that we shouldn't have to be doing odd jobs or always have enough cash for what we needed. He believed that because we were strong, we should be allowed to take what we wanted, that we should be ruling, and anyone who refuses us weren't needed in life.

"We fought and I won. There is no such thing as law enforcement in the Neverzone, just communities that set the standard for what they do and don't accept. But there was nothing of the such where we were, just us. Because of the friendship I thought we had, the bond we made I spared him; but I also couldn't just let him loose in the world, so I cut off his hands and kept him from bleeding out. He told me by sparing his life I would one day regret it. I never thought of him since that day.

"When I got home that day you can only image horror I faced, the despair I felt. But when I found this knife among them, I knew everything. I knew who and why he did it, all I had to do was figure out the how and where. So I left, knowing what had to be done and that if I asked for any of your guys' help you would have tried turning me away from this.

"So now you all know, now you all understand my reason for leaving, my rage and my cause. They died because I was stupid and naïve and made the biggest mistake of my life! You guys can't change my mind and you can't force me to stop. So if you've finally accepted that there's no helping me," he reaches into his sweater and pulls out his dimensional scissors and cuts a hole in reality. He sat back down in his chair to not face them and picked up his bottle. "There's the portal."

Everyone was silent. There was so much for them to take in, so much for them to work out. No one dared to do or say anything. But it was Tom who made the first move.

"You're right Marco, maybe you can blame yourself for what happened. And I'm sorry for what happened to your family." He put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "But you're wrong about one thing. Had you come to me I and told me what you needed to do I would have helped you. And if you'll have me, I'll help you now."

Everyone gasped. They were shocked at what Tom said, that he would actually agree to helping Marco kill a person. The person most shocked was Marco who never thought a friend would agree to it.

"TOM!? You can't be serious?" Star blared.

"Why not? We all heard his story! This is not some random murder Star, there was a reason behind it and there's a reason for Marco's behaviour. You said wanted to help him, well he's never going to get better if he doesn't get closure, and killing the guy who took his family is the only way. If we try to rip him from this, he'll never forgive us. So, I'm going to be a good friend and help him."

"Time out demon dude," Janna interfered holding her hands in a T shape. "Okay, yeah, I get it too. Marco's gone all dark side and I don't blame him, anyone would after an ordeal like that. Under certain conditions you can kill a person and not be judged by people, but you guys are actually consorting to kill someone. Yes, this Targil guy sounds like he deserves to die, but not in the way you guys are thinking."

"And you think there is a right way to go about it, Janna?" Marco turned around to face her. "What? We capture him and take him back to Echo Creek, so he can face the justice system? Where he'll be put on trial, found guilty, and get a lethal injection? First off, Tom's right. I'm doing this for closure, a painless, sleep-like death is too easy. Second, he's not from Earth, there are no records of him, a trial could take months, even years until he's found guilty. And third, he's too dangerous, if we leave him in the hands of police he'll escape and kill everyone in his path, he's capable of it."

"Jeez okay, what about if We take him to Mewni?" She turned to Star hoping for back-up.

"I'm not sure. That would be for Eclipsa to decide. And it's not that she wouldn't. But I don't think she can. Targil isn't a Mewman and this happened on Earth. We could probably lock him up in a dungeon but other than that she can't execute him."

"Okay," Janna turns to Hekapoo, now growing desperate. "What about that guy with the snake hands? Maybe he could do his- "

"Let me stop you there." Hekapoo cut in. "The Magic High Commission overseas magical activity throughout the universe. One cross-dimensional murder case is not exactly on our radar. Rhombulus is impulsive enough to definitely crystallize him, but the other members will know about it and move to have him freed because it's not a magical case. And that's how it'll play."

"Okay, I'm done. I tried." Janna threw her hands in the air, giving up on alternatives. "Look Marco, what I'm trying to get at is that this isn't right. There's another way we can go about it, a right way."

"Marco," Jackie stepped up to convince him. "Your angry, you think there's nothing left in your heart but pain, anguish, and hatred. But you have us, just let us in. Janna's right, there's another way, we just haven't figured it out yet. Your family wouldn't want this from you."

"Want?" Marco looked at her like she triggered something that he didn't want to show. "The dead don't want anything, Jackie. Wanting is a privilege for the living alone; I want Targil dead and you don't want me to kill him. So, tell me, whose want do you think outweighs the other?"

She had nothing more she knew that could be said. She didn't know how to go about saying it. And neither did Star. She saw that she and the girls were failing and Marco felt more justified now with someone on his side. Star looked at Kelly, who had been quiet this whole time, signalling to help, but Kelly looked ashamed.

"Star… I'm also with Marco on this." Everyone looked at her, another unexpected development took place. "It's not like I agree with Marco and Tom wholeheartedly, I'm also with you girls believing that there could be an alternative, but that's not what Marco needs. He needs Targil to die, and I'm okay with helping him."

Star couldn't believe what she had heard. One of her oldest friends was agreeing to murder.

"NO!" Marco Diaz you are not doing this! You aren't killing anyone! It's not right!"

"So said the kettle." Star felt insulted at what Marco said, and confused.

"What does that mean?"

"It means Toffee, Star, or did you forget?" Marco had heard all he needed from Star, now it was his turn. "When you came out of your wand all those years ago you didn't hesitate to blast Toffee with a full force of pure concentrated magical energy! You actually tried annihilating him. Tell me: what's the difference between what you did and what I want to do?"

He was right, Star did try her best to actually kill Toffee that day. She never questioned herself or looked back on her decision. But she did have an answer ready for him.

"You're right Marco, I did intend to kill Toffee that day. But that's because he was a threat. He tried destroying magic, and when I dipped down for the first time and brought magic back, I knew instantly that Toffee wouldn't quit after one failed attempt. He would try anything to accomplish his goal, even hurt the people I care for, like the time he kidnapped you. Toffee had the resolve to end you if I didn't do what he wanted, he would go after my parents, even the people of Mewni. I did what I had to in order to protect everyone. Protect you."

There was a long pause between the two. Everyone saw that she had a valid point.

"You're right Star, that was different." Like Janna said, under the right circumstances no one would judge you for your actions, but that wasn't what Marco referred to. "The difference is that you had people to protect. And all I've got is people to avenge."

That was it, the last nail in the coffin, Star gave up trying to convince him. But she refused to give up on him. She walked out of the cabin to think in private. Janna and Jackie close behind, Hekapoo came along but kept to a distance, leaning against the cabin as the three girls talked.


	5. Jackie

Nearly two hundred.

From a distance, Jackie had watched Marco do his daily workout and he was now finishing up with two hundred push-ups.

Marco's day starts early with a 5-kilometer run, two hundred pull-ups, two hundred sit-ups, two hundred push-ups, and two hundred sword swing exercises. It takes him roughly two to three hours to complete even with rests in between sets.

As he finally finished Jackie walked over to him. She, Star, and Janna agreed that they'd stay and continue to try and help Marco their way, even if they knew that it was all in vain, they had to try.

"Marco, can we talk?"

"No offence Jackie, but not really." Marco wiped the sweat from his body. Without a shirt on she could see just how chiselled he had become, but that wasn't on her mind. "You're going to tell me to not do it, don't kill someone out of hatred. Jackie, you can't guilt me out of it, you can't use logic to persuade me, I'm seeing this through to the end."

"And what if that's not what I wanted to talk about? There are some things I want to tell you because you need to know. You've changed so much Marco, and maybe stopping you is impossible, but if you continue down this path of vengeance, I'm afraid we'll lose you forever. At the very least let me save you from yourself. Please, I've missed you. Just talk to me?"

Marco's heart had grown cold and distant, but he wasn't cruel. He intended to sever ties with his friends, but he had to admit, having them with him now felt good. He had doubted his own decision on more than one occasion, and the loneliness did eat away at him.

He put a shirt on and walked over to a log and sat on it, motioning for Jackie to join him. At first, she said nothing, just sat with him as the breeze kissed them.

"After you disappeared, I was really scared dude. I thought so many horrible things happened to you, but I kept hoping you had escaped somewhere and you were just in hiding. That you'd contact someone when you knew you were safe, but that call never reached me. After a week with no sign I tracked down your extended family, maybe you were hiding with them, but they all said they hadn't seen you and were just as worried as me."

That hurt Marco, when he left he was only thinking of himself, he knew it would affect the people around him but he never thought of how much. His grandparents, uncles and aunts, he didn't think about them once. They probably think he's dead.

"Even still, after I tried finding you, I figured you'd show up eventually. But you never did, you weren't even there for the funeral."

A long pause in between them, he never looked back on his decision but always wondered what if he stayed? What had he missed?

"How was it?" The only thing he could muster to say.

"Appropriate. They were buried together."

There was tension in the air. Jackie didn't know how to go about continuing, Marco didn't know or want to ask anything else. The two just sat there in silence, neither one wanting to make the next move, but there was still something on Jackie's mind that she needed to confirm.

"Marco… have you cried yet?" In the two days they've spent with Marco, they've noticed how different he is. He barely talks, isn't concerned by his safety anymore, rarely talks. But what caught her attention the most that no one else noticed is how he's always doing something, never sitting still, not without a bottle in hand. To her, it looked like he was trying to avoid something.

"No Jackie, I haven't cried." Marco stared straight ahead. "When I found them dead, I didn't understand anything. It was horror that I felt first, then distraught. But that's when I found the knife, everything made sense; and I got angry. Not a boiling anger that you feel you need to lash out at, but a calm, focused one. It's not that I don't want to cry or refuse, but I can't Jackie. When I was finally alone and had time to myself, I didn't feel anything. I tried to grieve, I tried letting the pain out, but it's rooted deep. Jackie, I think I'm broken."

Marco's voice trembled a little, he was scared.

Jackie scootched over and put her hand on his chest and rested against him, and for a while, they just enjoyed each other's company. But still, even with this comfort, Marco didn't shed a tear.

"Marco, can I tell you something?"

"Course Jackie." Marco felt something on his arm. When he looked down he saw it was a splash of water. And when he looked at her he could see that she was the one crying now.

"I think I messed up. Chloé and I… I think it's over between us." It shocked Marco, he had really missed a lot. Last he saw of the two they were happy together. Jackie and the others chased after him because they thought he needed there help, just not how they would have imagined. He may have disappeared on them without a word, but he didn't take their friendship for granted, and now it was his turn to be a good friend.

"What happened?" He slid his arm around and embraced her.

"When you disappeared, I may have gone a little extreme when it came to searching for you. For nearly three months I was doing everything I could to find you, contacting family, police reports, news feeds, even kept going to the places we would usually hang out at like Britta's Tacos; it nearly came to the point of obsession. At first, Chloé was supportive and was helping me, then when I kept hitting dead ends she began to worry about me when I wouldn't quit, and that later turned into frustration. She was worried about you too Marco, but she didn't understand the kind of person you are. I knew you could take care of yourself, but I knew you couldn't do it all alone. She tried distracting me or comforting me, but I couldn't let it go. She began accusing me that I wasn't over you, or maybe that we were still seeing each other secretly. It hurt that she could say such things, but I could see how much more I was hurting her so I stopped, or tried to. I continued to check news feeds daily, even whenever my phone got a new notification of a story, doesn't matter where we were or what we were doing I instantly checked every time. That's when we started fighting. Little over a month ago she got a call that her dad had gotten sick, so she went back to France to look after him, I said I wanted to go with her but she said it was best if I stayed behind, maybe you would show up. That's what she said but I knew she really meant we needed time apart, and we've not spoken to each other since, not even a text. I haven't asked how her father was or how she was doing, I don't know how she feels but I've been too scared to call her, fearing that it'll be our last conversation. I don't know what to do Marco, I can't lose her too."

She wept uncontrollably into his chest, both arms around his torso for comfort. In turn, Marco held her close. He thought that she came to help him, but in reality, she was the one who needed the help. Marco wanted to tell her it would be okay, but he didn't want to lie. He didn't know how to tell the truth either.

He had grown distant from his friends and himself, thinking it was the right choice. But now he could see he caused too much pain in the lives of the people he cared for. He didn't want to see any more tears shed because of him so he decided to stop pushing people away.

But even still, Jackie cried alone.


	6. Tom

"Thanks for helping Tom, it makes hauling this guy a lot easier." Marco referred to the dead deer-like creature that was tied to a pole the two men carried. It had a grey/blue-like fur coat and three sets of small antlers.

"No problem man, happy to help. But you mind if we take a break? He's kind of heavy." They set their prize down and sat on the ground. Marco laid his bow and quiver beside himself and drank from a sack filled with water, after he finished he passed it to Tom to share. "So you usually hunt these guys?"

"Rarely," Tom wiped his mouth and passed the sack back to Marco. "They're kind of heavy for me to carry by myself and are extremely skittish. Predators have to camouflage themselves and wait close to a trail these guys usually follow and wait hours for one to pass by. Even then, you have to ambush them without messing up a second, they'll look for a weakness or flaw and exploit it for the quickest getaway. I've set traps all over common places where they go but somehow they keep disarming them. If you hadn't trapped one in a ring of fire this would have been a bust."

"Well, glad I was able to make this hunt a success," Tom said with pride. "Hey, where'd you learn to hunt anyway?"

"River insisted on taking me on a couple of his hunting trips back when Star and I were together. Didn't he ever do the same for you?"

"Once, but patience and silence aren't my forte. Couple that with how much I hate the forest and you have a loud, rage-fueled, fire-flinging demon on your hands. Not the best to keep around for a hunt. So what was hunting with him like?"

Marco gave no answer. He just stared into the void of the recesses that were his mind, remembering the horror of hunting with River. He finally snapped back to reality after re-living a fearful time he'd rather forget. "It was… a life experience unlike any other."

"Sounds nice." Tom was completely oblivious to the tone of Marco's voice.

"Tom, I really want to thank you." Marco's voice was more sombre than previous. "It really means a lot to me that you have my back on this, that you're really willing to help me kill him."

Tom did pick up on his tone this time, he knew that Marco wasn't talking about the deer. "No problem dude."

"But the question's been bothering me: why did you agree to help me? And don't give me this 'because we're friends' business, there's clearly more to it than that.

"I am doing this because we're friends Marco, just the same as how I came with Star and followed her plan to help you. But you're right, there is more to it than just our friendship. It's because I'm a demon Marco, I'm the princess and future king of the Underworld."

"What does that have to do with any of this?" Marco didn't understand his answer.

"Look, Marco, you've been to the Underworld a few times. Decent enough place, right?" Marco nodded his head in agreement, his trips to the Underworld have all been enjoyable, but he always found the norms of the denizens to be different from other places. "It is a nice place, but demons are more resilient than others like Mewmans or monsters. You are just as likely to be given a hug from your best friend as you are getting stabbed in the back by them, and I mean literally stabbed in the back. And a demon would be fine with it, it's like an inside joke or a formal greeting.

"It's normal for demons, we go through our whole lives inflicting pain and agony on each other, but not actually suffering. But what most people in Mewni don't know, because of that, demons are great torturers, so sometimes we're brought people or monster for one reason or another to be tortured." Tom looked uncomfortable and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"Something of a dark secret has been guarded by the kingdoms and is only known by an inner circle and the darker side of the Underworld: the Lucitors never started as royalty or great leaders, we were master torturers, and because of that my family gained a lot of respect and influence and became the rulers of the Underworld. Practices are carried on in our family for every generation, not out of tradition but because it's a necessity. And yes, I have been taught. Lucitors learn to torture because sometimes someone will bring us a person for whatever reason: interrogation, punishment, sometimes demons come to us for the hell of it, and we're expected to get results. We're the demons you go to when you exhaust every other option. I tutored at the age of ten, and for six years I learned all you can on all types of torture and constantly practiced on dummies until I was given my first real trial. And I passed with flying colours. Marco, I'm not comfortable with that side of my life, especially if my friends knew, but I'm also not ashamed of it. I never told Star because I thought she would think less of me, but I always knew she'd learn about it one day if she already hasn't. I'm telling you this because when you said you wanted to kill that guy, you didn't try to hide your intentions, you didn't care what we would think but rather how we'd react. If I said you should be ashamed of yourself then I'd be a hypocrite. That's why I sided with you, you know who you are and what you wanted and you didn't hide it, that was inspiring Marco, and I just wish I could be more like you."

Tom's story stuck Marco hard, he wasn't sure how to react. All these years he knew his demonic friend and this was something he never imagined would be apart of his life. It was a lot to take in, on one hand, Tom confided in his friend about a dark secret of his own; on the other, it was something just as dark and controversial as Marco's intention. But he had no right to judge Tom, Tom didn't torture out of amusement, he did it as a responsibility. Just as Tom would be a hypocrite to Marco for wanting to kill Targil, Marco would be a hypocrite for judging Tom. But Marco came to his conclusion: he didn't care. Whatever his friend did, he trusted Marco, and this just meant he knew his friend even more now, and it made Marco happy to have such a good companion.

"But uh, if we're on the subject of moral ambiguity, I've been meaning to ask you: how are you going to kill the is Targil guy?" Tom scratched the back of his head, he felt his transition could have been more tactful, but straightforward was his best approach as a valid question. A question Marco found unable to answer immediately.

"I'm not sure Tom, I've thought about it a lot, just about every night really. Strangulation with my hands, hang him from a tree, cut out his heart, slice his head off, beat him to death, drowning, throw him off a cliff. I've thought of countless methods, but I've never been able to decide on how. Would I play it out long and slow as he did with my family or maybe get the drop on him so he'd never see it coming? I've never been certain. I just want him dead, plain and simple, how I do it is another matter. But the thing is, sometimes I would dream of it. I'm standing over him, he's dead, his blood is on my hands, and then I'd wake up in a cold sweat, shaking. Tom, I want him dead, with all my being I want to kill him, but I'm not sure if I have the conviction to go through with it, but I have to. Otherwise, what is all this for?"

Tom stood up and looked at his friend in the eyes. "Well, if there's one thing I learned about torturing: there are right ways and wrong ways to go about it. But for killing someone, there's only one way, so you have to make sure Marco, when you come face-to-face with this guy, that you'll know what to do. Because if you mess this up, you'll not just regret letting him live, but also regret killing him. Or at the very least, regret not killing him properly."

Marco exhaled; his chest felt lighter. Having this heartfelt conversation with Tom was needed. He picked himself up and hugged him. At first, Tom was taken off guard, but then he followed suit, feeling that he too needed it.

"Hey, Marco?"

"Yeah Tom?"

"Did you stab me?"

"I sure did buddy." An arrow stuck out of Tom's back. And the two shared a laugh, a memory that they'll carry for the rest of their lives as an inside joke.


	7. Janna

Marco sat at his lone table; a candle lit his area so he could see what he wrote in his journal. He started a journal to keep track of what notes and clues he's found when searching for Targil or if anything of importance happened, and for the last few days, he had been writing in his journal more frequently.

He drank from one of his bottles that were on his left, it was his leisurely activate these days. When he first started drinking it would hurt going down, burned even, and he constantly kept coughing it back up. Now he could take a swig and not flinch. He felt good, and not just because the drink was kicking in. He thought he would hate having his friends with him, how they would treat him. Star and Jackie kept pestering him to not kill Targil or came to him with alternatives, all of which he turned a deaf ear to, but their concern was appreciated at least. Kelly and Tom kept supporting him and would go over strategies for various situations should they find him and have helped to look for Targil, but nobody had found anything. Hekapoo, on the other hand, kept to a distance from Marco, and he never did a lot to interact with her. Marco still wasn't sure why she decided to stay if she wasn't going to help or stop him. But the biggest problem was Janna, and as though on cue, walked into the cabin.

It wasn't the front door she came in from but the guest room Star made for everyone as the only thing Marco had to sleep on was a sturdy old cot. Really, the guest room was more like a guest house as it accommodated the six guests and was larger than the cabin itself.

"Yo Marco, drinking alone again?" Janna sat on a small spot on the table, her left side pressed against the wall in front of him. She grabbed the bottle that still had about 2/3 of it left and had a bit herself, she didn't even gag as it went down. "You gotta find a new nightly activity."

"What are you still doing up Janna?" The sun had set a long time ago and Marco would have rather avoided talking to her, she always caused him trouble.

"I could ask you the same thing. Had to use the bathroom and got curious if you were still up. like every night since we got here." She wasn't just troublesome, but she was highly observant too. Her eyes spied the journal before him and set the bottle down to reach for it. "What you got here?"

Marco slammed the journal closed, his left hand pinned it down and he gave her a look that said not to try it. Of all things, he'd rather she not read it, but knowing Janna, she already had when he wasn't looking. She retracted her hand, knowing that grabbing it was impossible at the moment.

"You know, I thought I'd like this new darker, tortured soul Marco Diaz. But it turns out he's just got a stick up his butt the whole time. No fun." She crossed her arms in a fake pout but was serious about how unhappy she was with new Marco.

"What do you want Janna? You needed to go to the bathroom, well if you've gone then go to bed. You were curious if I was awake, well now you see that I am. What more do you want?" 

She grabbed the bottle again and began to swirl it while she gave a cheeky smile. "Well since you're up, and I'm up, and you have your thing going on, I'm now thinking you could use a drinking buddy. You know, like good old times."

The memories of drinking with Janna were not good, not for him at least. She was always able to out drink him then she'd claim the spoils of victory from Marco, which was whatever she wanted it to be. But despite his best judgement he grabbed the bottle from her and leaned back while taking a drink and passed it back.

"So what's your question?" He knew that she was going to pry some information out of him or try to convince him to give up on his vendetta. May as well not dance around it.

"Me? Nothing really. I've been able to gather what I needed by keeping an eye on you and how you've been acting with everyone else." That piqued Marco's interest.

"Oh? And what have you gathered?" She took a drink.

"You're still in a great deal of pain but you don't know how to convey it because you're emotionally stunted. You were very uncertain of us being here because you thought we'd be judgemental of you but now that you have Tom and Kelly on your side you feel justified and that having all of us here has actually been rather cathartic. You are determined that you want to kill this Targil guy but you also have doubts about whether it's right or if you can do it. You claim to be a tortured soul but you keep drinking this watered down weak stuff because you're wallowing in self-pity and want to drink the guilt away but the safety kid part of you is still there so you make certain that it's something you can handle and get drunk off of but not too bad that you prove ineffective the following day. I miss anything?"

No, Janna hit the nail right on the head. Nothing gets past her. He took back the bottle and had a large drink. "Well, there you have it, the new and '_improved'_ Marco Diaz: A total mess of what he was and a convolution of what he is." He leaned forward again; his arms supported himself on the table. "Janna, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why'd you always play pranks on me. And steal my personal belongings. And my identity. You know, I'm still not convinced you don't have a copy of my birth certificate." Janna made a wicked laughed. He thought she had the copy.

"I don't know, guess it's because I liked you." Marco coughed up the drink he just downed, not expecting to hear that answer. Janna laughed again as she watched him catch his breath. "Not like that moron! I meant platonically, as a person. Marco, we've known each other since pre-school, been in just about every class together, but we never really said more than two sentences to each other unless the situation demanded it. I don't know, there was something about you, something that just seemed to attract me, and I wanted to have a connection with you. Weird huh? You were the straight-A safety kid and I was the troublemaker who spent more time in detention than I did in class, we were basically polar opposites with nothing in common. Guess that's why I started messing with you 'cause you seemed like an easy target that I could rile up. But the more I teased, the more I enjoyed seeing you. Then Star showed up and she and I started hanging out and she was always with you, it just made me happy, I suppose. Happy that I could be a part of your life, whether you liked it or not."

Marco never believed he would ever hear such a confession from her. But he agreed, despite all the pranks and psychological torment he suffered from her, he had grown to enjoy Janna's company.

"And then you left." Janna sounded different. Sounded honest, serious honest. "You know I don't have a lot of friends. There's you, Jackie, Star, Tom and I have hung out now and again, and that's fine. Having a small close-knit group of friends was a lot more preferable to me than a large group I have to constantly keep in touch with if or risk drifting apart. But then your life changed. You were just gone Marco, and it wasn't something big out of just your life that was missing, it was something out of mine too. I had grown too attached to you Marco, I felt alone. I didn't have a way to contact Star or Tom, Jackie and I don't click well by ourselves, I didn't really have anyone. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but your disappearance really gave me a new perspective, I had been too dependant on you to define myself. I was a twenty-year-old woman working at a creepy antique shop with possible cursed objects, having no business going to college but went just because her friend was going, and didn't care what tomorrow brought because it would have been the same old shtick. We weren't kids anymore, for the first time in my life, I didn't know what to do with myself."

Marco didn't know how to respond; he'd only seen Janna act like her life was out of control once before when they were kids. She pulled out a plane ticket that she kept somewhere in her pyjamas and showed it to Marco, the destination was France of all places, and departure time was three months ago.

"I figured I do some travelling, you know, go out into the world and find myself or whatever that garbage is and visit all the creepy places the world has to offer. Thought I'd start on a high note with visiting the Catacombs of Paris, an entire necropolis underneath one of the most romantic cities in the world, sign me up. I planned it all out, I'd visit ghost houses, cemeteries, haunted buildings, fields where wars were fought, check out John Keats grave. I was ready to do it. But when the day came, I chickened out. I never went, I stayed in Echo Creek, I guess because I figured something like this would happen: Star would show up and we'd go on an adventure to find you, I guess I never left because it wasn't me I had to find, but you. That way I'd know for sure why everything changed for me too that day. And now I think I know why. When Star came into your life up you changed, you went on crazy adventures with her, fought monsters, became more confident, stronger, less concerned about your wimpy public image. I mean, you became an icon by kickstarting a rebellion at a princess reform school and defended Mewni on multiple occasions. Can you say that you could have done any of that if you never met Star? That's why I stayed, I didn't just want an adventure, but an adventure that no one else could take me on, one where I wasn't alone."

Janna took the bottle back and drank, looking embarrassed after a full confession, even turned away from Marco to wipe her face, she didn't want to show him how weak she felt. "So there you have it, the new and '_improved'_ Janna Ordonia: an unconfident girl who has to rely on another person because she no longer knows who she is."

That was a lot to unpack, Marco never expected that Janna of all people would be going through an emotional turmoil. She set the bottle down in front of Marco and hopped off. "Well, I had enough emotional bonding to last me the rest of my life, think I'll head to bed now. 'Night dude."

"Good night Janna." Marco grabbed the bottle, intent on finishing it, but a piece of paper was thrust into his face.

"Here, when you left, I noticed you had forgotten to grab something important. Figure I'd return this to you." Marco grabbed the paper and flipped it over. On the other side was a picture of him and his family when they took a road trip to Mexico to visit his grandparents. His father stood behind him, his left hand on Marco's shoulder and his right arm around his wife's waist who had her right hand on her husband's chest. Marco held a three-year-old Mariposa in arms. Everyone looked so happy. No one in that photo had any idea what the future held for them, all that mattered was the present they were in.

"Hey Janna," Marco stopped her as she got to the door, but continued to stare at the photo. "Thanks for being my friend."

"Don't mention it." And then there was a click, the door closed behind Janna and Marco was alone again.

Marco continued to look at the picture, remembering better days. He brought the bottle up again but stopped himself short. He looked at the contents of the bottle, now a little less than half. Instead of pouring it down his throat he was content with watching it pour onto the floor. He did nothing after for the next hour but continued to stare at the happy memory.


	8. Kelly

"Okay, that's enough heat, take it out!" Kelly instructed Marco as he pulled a long chunk of iron out of the furnace. Kelly wore thick mitts and took it from him, an orange glow signalled that it was extraordinarily hot and malleable, and Marco hammered away at it while Kelly kept it in place. The pair work for hours that day making swords, armour, other equipment until they had made enough progress for one day.

"Thanks for all the help Kelly, work has really improved since you started instructing me," Marco said as he gave her a pouch with water in it. She greedily drank it and untied her massive volume of hair that she kept pinned up while they worked. "How do you know so much about blacksmithing?"

"Marco, you've seen how many swords I have, did you really think they just appear from nowhere?"

"Well, no, I just assumed you bought them or something, didn't think you actually made them."

"Yeah, well a sharp sword wears out easily, you have to learn to take care of it. My dad taught me a lot about how to make and care for my weapons. Besides, how could I not help after seeing your finished work." She used that term loosely. Kelly and Marco looked at a pile of brittle, and rather ugly, swords and armour Marco had made in his stay at the cabin. She grabbed a damp towel and wiped the soot from her face and arms, blackening the towel. "But how'd you learn to smith? And how did you get all this set up in a few months, that's a lot of work Marco on your own?"

"During my travels in the Neverzone, I ended up being stuck on an island for a whole year. A blacksmith sheltered me in exchange that I apprenticed under him until the earliest I could leave. He needed help around his forge and I couldn't do anything to get back to the mainland so I took his offer. I learned a lot from him, but my skills are still novice level."

"I'll say," Kelly picked up a sword that Marco had managed to bend in two different angles. He didn't even know how he managed that, it just happened. "If my dad saw these he'd probably blow a gasket and try killing you with each one."

Given what Marco knew first-hand about her father, he wasn't certain if she was serious or not.

"Hey, Kelly?"

"Yeah, Marco?"

"… Never mind." He had a question ready for her but figured it was best not to ask so he left it. Instead, he decided to get changed out of his dirty clothes and wore his usual shirt and hoodie.

"I've seen people die for less, you know." Kelly set the weapon back where she pulled it from.

"What?" Marco didn't understand why she said that.

"You were going to ask me, weren't you? Why would I choose to side with you? Tom told me about your guys' hunting trip that day. And I suspect everyone else has been telling you their own personal reasons for being here. You know the world I come from, it's a place where people fight each other for just about any reason. Fighting is an everyday occurrence back home where the winner is whoever has beaten the other person. But sometimes fights have to be settled with more than just a beating. At a young age, I've watched other people die, Marco."

"So, is that why you're okay with agreeing to what I want to do? Because you're used to it?"

"No Marco, to be honest, I don't like the idea of you killing someone. I don't agree with it."

"Then why not side with Star?"

Kelly took a deep breath, hesitant on what she wanted to tell him. "Because I've also killed someone."

Marco didn't expect to hear that, but given the past week and a half, he's learnt a lot about his friends that he never knew before. Kelly walked to him until the two faced each other with an arm's width apart, her hands clasped each other and hung in front of her.

"Five years ago, I was betrothed, believe it or not. Not by my own volition, I didn't want to get married. But this guy, his name was Allen, he was one of the greatest fighters of our generation, and in an old traditional way of proposing he challenged my father to a duel for my hand in marriage to prove he was strong. My dad knew I didn't want to marry him so he was against the idea, but his pride refused him to denying the challenge, and he lost. In Woolett culture, instead of an exchange of rings or vows between groom and bride, it's an exchange of punches. And on the day of our wedding, I dodged his punch. Now, that was an obvious insult to him and he did not take too kindly to it. The night before our wedding I learned that if one party was promised to the other, the involuntary participant could demand a duel to break the ties. The only catch is that a marriage is a unity to life, so the only thing that could break that was a fight to the death. For context, that's not how divorce works in my dimension, just a traditional way for either the bride or groom to call off the wedding. I almost died that day. If it wasn't for Allen's ego and hubris for being one of the greatest fighters, accompanied by the rage of my insult, I never would have won. While I laid on the ground, beaten and bloodied, he monologued about how happy our lives could have been together and how disappointed he was in me. And when he turned his back to me, I grabbed a knife that I had hidden in my dress and stabbed him. But he didn't die instantly, just mortally wounded him, and technically the duel was still on as neither of us had died. I didn't want him to suffer by bleeding out, so I climb on to of him and pushed the knife into his chest, and I didn't get off him until I was certain he had his last breath."

There were no tears from Kelly, no emotion, just certainty. Just her telling a tale to Marco as if it wasn't her own life she described

"Kelly, I'm so sorry, if I had known-"

"But you didn't," Kelly cut him off, not angry. "I never told you, I never told anyone who didn't already know. Star and Ponyhead didn't even know about it. Just like how you never told anyone about what happened to your family. I didn't enjoy having to kill someone Marco, but I would have died if I didn't, or lived a life that wasn't mine. Thing is, Allen wasn't a bad guy Marco, he was just conceited and threw a tantrum when he didn't get what he wanted, like me denying our marriage. That's why I sided with you, it made me think of that time. I had people supporting me to not get married, so I felt you needed people on your side too. But as someone who's killed another person, let me tell you this Marco: that feeling changes a person. Some people never recover after an experience like that, while other people are able to go on the next day ignoring what happened, but no matter what, it sticks with you for life. The number of times I've looked at my hands and recalled that day, thinking that I still have Allen's blood on me. It sends a shiver down my spine."

Kelly wrapped her arms around herself, just thinking back to then made her squirm. Marco could see her discomfort and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Kelly, sorry that you had to go through that. I'm sorry that you went through that. Sorry that I never knew."

"It's fine," Kelly stayed in his embrace, not wanting to break out of it any time soon. "As I said: I never told anyone, not even Star or Ponyhead. But thank you."

The two stayed together for a while, but another question was bothering Marco now. "So, if you were getting married, did Tad know about it?"

Kelly burst out laughing so hard tears filled her eyes and she pushed Marco away. "Oh yeah, I didn't tell him about it but he caught wind somehow. He crashed the place challenging Allen because he didn't agree to our union, thinking he could win me back by beating him. Allen beat him in one hit."

"Oh my god!" That horrified Marco, not just because what he learned what it took to stop a Woolett wedding, but also because Kelly laughed hysterically. "You mean he…"

"No Marco," Kelly wiped a tear from her eye and calmed down a little, she noted Marco's fear. "A fight to the death was only permissible between groom and bride. Allen just gave him a single punch and Tad was out like a light."

Marco was relieved knowing that Tad didn't die. Then he laughed with Kelly, thinking on how hilarious it must have been to see Tad be T.K.O'd with a single punch.


	9. Hekapoo

Marco stood alone on a cliff, he watched the red sun slowly descend behind the horizon, the world looked like it was on fire as the light dimmed. Marco hadn't gotten much time to himself in the last two weeks since his friends showed up. Having company was nice, but at least one person was always around him, and after a time of living alone for so long he had gotten used to it, he kind of missed the solidarity. Just being by himself and reflecting on the world, taking time to just stop and be there in the moment, it was relaxing. But his peaceful time was cut short as he heard the approaching footsteps of one of his friends.

"So let's see, so far your activities have included: training, forging, drinking, and all-around brooding. And now we have moping." It was the unmistakable voice of Hekapoo. He turned around to see she had a neutral expression on her face, but with her arms crossed her body language said that she wasn't happy with him.

"Hey, H-poo." He replied and looked back at the horizon.

"Don't call me that." She said, annoyed at her nickname he would often call her by. The two had barely spoken to each other all this time. Marco was either with someone else or working on something on his own time; and Hekapoo, she would just watch him. Marco couldn't ever tell if she was being judgemental or concerned whenever he caught her staring.

Hekapoo slid up next to him to enjoy the view herself. "So you're really going through with it?"

"Yup."

"And do you have doubts?"

"Not really."

"You gonna answer me with more than two-word answers?" She had gotten annoyed at his short responses.

"What do you want from me Hekapoo?" Marco started to feel just as annoyed towards her. It wasn't like Hekapoo to dance around a subject, she was always upfront about everything with him.

"Hopeful to show you that you're making a mistake dummy!" She blurted and looked directly at him, her flame grew larger, reflecting her emotions.

"If you think it's a mistake then why did you bother helping me to begin with? Why haven't you tried stopping me like Star, Jackie, and Janna have been? Why are you here Hekapoo?" Marco's frustration got the better of him and yelled back at her.

"Because it wasn't my place to interfere! Because you wouldn't have listened to me if I tried stopping you! Because I care about you!" Marco wasn't sure if she answered his questions in order or if they all applied to each. "Look, Marco, when you searched for me, there were plenty of times you lost track of me, times you couldn't find me or a clone. But even though you lost sight of me, I was always watching you, I always kept an eye on you and what you did. And when you couldn't find me you were helping people, you did a lot of good, you would even jeopardize your mission if it meant helping someone. Never once did you compromise your moral integrity, but that's what you're doing now, you're not acting like you."

"You're not wrong Hekapoo," Marco calmed down a bit, he knew there was truth behind her words. "But that was an old Marco, I'm a different person now. I did help a lot of people because I wanted to, but now there is nothing I want more than to finish this, to just let it end. I need this Hekapoo, why can't you see that?"

"Marco," Hekapoo's flame died back down to a small flame. Hekapoo reached for a hand of his and clasped it in her own. "I've lived for thousands of years. I have seen the best and worst this universe has to offer. I have seen people like you, people with so much potential who throw it all away after one bad day and went down a path that there is no coming back from. I just don't want that to happen to you too."

"Hekapoo, I understand your concern." He pulled away from her grasp and slid his hands into his jean pockets. "But this wasn't a bad day, this was life-changing, world-shattering. The guilt is all mine. I was naïve enough to let a killer go, believing I would never see him again. I thought that by cutting off his hands he'd never be able to hurt anyone again, but that just gave him a new purpose in life, a hate that revolved around me. If he had just come for me none of us would be here now. If I had just finished him all those years ago..."

"But you didn't! You stayed true to who you were, you couldn't do it back then, you wouldn't have and that's because you knew it would have been wrong and it would have been worse if you let him go. You made the right choice that day, don't let anyone or yourself tell you differently."

"But did I?" Marco's shoulders slumped and he averted his gaze. "How many people did he kill before we met? How many people did he kill after we parted? How many has he killed now? By not killing him I'm disrespecting the people who died in vain, people who didn't deserve it, like how my family didn't, or that girl. I'm doing this because he's killed so many people, and they're spirits won't rest until justice is served."

Hekapoo was stunned, she couldn't believe the words that came from his mouth.

"Don't you dare, Marco Diaz." Hekapoo became livid and Marco's attention snapped back to her. "Don't you dare claim this is for the sake of other people! Don't dare use their deaths as your excuse! Don't you dare try and make this about them and call it justice when you know exactly what it is! This is about you being selfish and wanting revenge! When you came to me, you may have not said anything, but you made it plain and simple that this was all about you. That's what you've been telling your friends this whole time, that it was your family, your poor judgement, your guilt. It was always about you Marco, it never had anything to do with anyone else, and certainly not anyone you weren't responsible for, so don't you give me this weight-of-the-world sob story. This was always about you getting revenge, not justice!"

"Revenge that was spawned from revenge!" Marco threw his hands in the air, the two were back to yelling at one another. "I took his arms so he took my family! What was I supposed to do, not retaliate? Okay, you're right, I'm just using other peoples deaths to support my own brand of justice when we know neither of those things to be true! But what am I supposed to do when justice is so fickle in this scenario? What am I supposed to do?"

Hekapoo took a deep breath and calmed down. "Look, there may be another way, I know you've been turning down every alternative presented thus far. But there was one suggestion that Janna mentioned to you once that got me thinking, so I looked into it. I know the most brutal, hellish, and inescapable prison in the entire universe where the most dangerous criminals go that the High Commission has no business in dealing with. I've been meeting with the warden there and he said if we're able to capture Targil he'd gladly pull some strings and take him as a prisoner. He'd even forge a document, stretch the truth a bit, and boom, it's like it was an official delivery. Trust me, this place is awful, probably more than what he deserves even. He'll spend the rest of his life in torment and agony Marco. There's your justice. He'll suffer and you won't betray yourself or the expectations of anyone else, even Tom and Kelly don't want you to kill someone. It's a good plan, Marco."

Marco looked like was thinking about it, mulling it over in his mind for a while until he spoke.

"He'll suffer? For the rest of his life?" Hekapoo believed she had him won him over.

"Yes Marco, he'll get what he has coming to him." She said with hope.

"But I don't want him to suffer Hekapoo, I don't want him to live. I want him dead, just dead." Marco turned away to face the setting sun again, but his eyes were downtrodden.

She lost. Hekapoo thought she figured something out, a compromise for everyone, for Marco. But she saw that just like on his quest, he had the resolve to finish this too.

The unmistakable sound of a portal opened behind Marco.

"Okay Marco, I get it. Nothing will turn you away from this. I gave it my best shot but I won't try and stop you. But I won't help you either. I'm going back to my dimension, I have other things that need attending, probably a bunch of High Commission stuff I've missed." Hekapoo's voice sounded soft. "Goodbye Muscles."

"Goodbye H-Poo." The sound of the portal continued; nothing having passed through it.

"Don't call me that." A change in Hekapoo's tone again. That time more sorrowful, almost heartbroken. And she went home.

Marco didn't bother to look back as he heard the sound of the portal close, he knew well enough that she left.

Besides, he had nothing to look back on.


	10. Chapter 10

Star laid in her bed, heartache stripped her of any other emotion and she couldn't physically cry anymore.

She had failed.

**-Earlier that day-**

Star, Jackie, and Janna watched as the other three suited up in armour inside the cabin. Finally, after Marco followed a solid lead Kelly had found, they discovered, with certainty, where Targil was. Now everything was leading up to the moment Marco had been waiting for.

Marco wore mostly leather armour, overtop was a small iron chest plate and gauntlets that didn't cover his fingers and gave 360-degree wrist rotation for better mobility. Kelly dressed more heavily than he did with a full chest plate that included shoulder pads, gauntlets, shin guards, and a helmet that kept her hair tied back. She had a comically huge sword on her back that was nearly as large as she was. Contrast to her, Tom went with light material, wearing fingerless gloves, a leather chest piece that had blue fur around the neck and three spikes on his shoulders, and steel-toed boots.

"Ready?" Asked Marco as he slid a curved sabre over his shoulder. Making a sword like El Choppo was too difficult for Kelly's level of crafting, but this sword was enough for him.

"Ready." His partners said in unison.

"Marco, you're not really doing this, are you? I know you're angry and want to track him down immediately but, you won't really do it, right? You won't kill him?" Star grew flustered, she had tried everything to convince Marco to not kill Targil.

"I am Star," He answered coldly. "This is how it needs to end between us. It was always going to end like this, with one of us dead. I was just too stupid to see that. I know you girls think better of me, but nothing you have suggested can give me the closure this will. This needs to happen, Star. **I **need this to happen. And if you're not going to help, then stay here."

"No! No, no, no!" She got in between of him and the door and begged for him not to do this.

Her concern did affect Marco who hung his head in shame, but he had a resolve that refused to waver and pushed past Star. She panicked. She couldn't let her best friend go through with this and she already tried everything to stop him.

Almost everything.

She didn't want to do it, but just as Marco had his resolve to kill Targil, Star had hers to stop him and used a last-ditch effort, knowing he may hate her forever. But in Star's mind, it was a small price to pay. As Marco reached for the door, a pink luminesce object flew past him and landed on the doorknob at the same time he did. The knob now glowed a pink colour, and when Marco tried opening it, he found that it was jammed. He tried a few more times with constant failure, but he already knew that would happen after the first try.

"Unlock the door Star." He said in an almost intimidating voice.

"Not happening, Marco. I won't let you do this!" There was a determination in Star's voice. "I'm not saying we don't punish Targil, but we can't kill him. Not like this, not when you're full of rage. It's a mistake."

"No, a mistake is letting him live. A mistake is thinking that there is another way. I'll say it once more Star: unlock the door." Janna and Jackie grew concerned as they spied Tom and Kelly slowly backing away from the two. Everyone could tell that tension in the air grew thick.

"Or else what, Marco?" Star's hands begun to glow.

No more words were exchanged, Marco turned his head just enough for everyone to see how furious he looked from Star's betrayal. Marco used the door to gain height and closed the distance between the two quickly. As he came crashing down towards Star, she transformed into her butterfly form and easily dodged.

Everyone gasped as Marco's knee broke through the floorboards where Star stood, she elevated herself as high as she could inside the small confines. Her six arms all pointed at Marco and a swirl of an orange and red stream of magic with oranges and strawberries mixed in shot towards him, he rolled out of the way of the fruity blast.

"Stop! Stop! This isn't right! You shouldn't be fighting each other!" Jackie cried as the two ducked and dodged the other's attacks, neither one with the thought of relenting. Kelly tackled her to the ground as a stray spell almost hit her.

"Over here!" Tom called from behind the door that connected to the created rooms Star made, Janna was already inside with him. Tom kept the door ajar after the two scrambled in, just in time as a narwhale's horn stuck itself into the door where his head would have been. Jackie sat closest to the door on one side of the wall with Kelly beside her, Tom was the same on the other side of the doorway with Janna.

"This is insane!" Kelly cried as the sound of smashing wood and spells being blasted could be heard from the other side. "They're not supposed to be fighting each other! Why couldn't Star leave well enough alone?"

"Star?" Janna blared as drywall broke over her. "Marco attacked first. And if he had at least given other alternatives a thought, we'd all be helping him."

"Hey, hey. Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves more than what's already happening." Tom, oddly enough, was the voice of reason that tried calming everyone down. "Look, we all chose who we support, but we all agree that we came to help Marco. Now I'll peer behind the door and when I see the opportunity the four of us will rush them, Janna and I will stop Star while Jackie and Kelly get in front of Marco. For clarity, we're not trying to escalate the fight, we'll put ourselves between them, they'll stop fighting if they realize they'll be attacking us too. Then from there we'll talk with them and figure something out peacefully."

Everyone nodded in accordance. Tom peered to see that the room was broken and trashed all over with smashed spots all over the walls and floor and what was left of Star's spells sprawled everywhere. Marco now brandished his sword that he used to deflect incoming spells while Star hovered above the floor, the two breathed heavily.

"Okay, now!" Everyone rushed out as Tom spotted the two not making any advances on the other, he thought it was the right time.

"Warnicorn Stamped!" A plume of smoke appeared behind Star and six angry, tough looking warnicorns charged at Marco.

"My mistake! Go back, go back!" Tom stopped dead in his tracks to not be caught in the charging rush of the equines, everyone crashed into him and toppled over.

"Nice call, Lucy." Janna mocked from atop the dogpile.

Marco dodged the first warnicorn and roundhouse kicked the next. He proceeded to successfully bob and weave between warnicorns all the while delivering counters.

"Kitty Cat Bullet Attack!" An orange feline with heart pupils shot from Star's hands, it launched at an incredible speed towards Marco, still distracted by the remaining warnicorns trying to maul him. The cat hit him directly to the body, it struck him with enough force to throw him off his feet and launched him into the wall. He clutched his guts where the cat hit him as he lay on the floor, Star stood above triumphantly.

"It's over Marco!" She primed a final spell to detain him. She would take him back to Mewni where Eclipsa and her mother could help him somehow while she went after Targil. After she captured him she'd know what to do.

"Star, STOP!" Janna and Kelly got in between the two, arms up in a submissive manner.

"Easy, Star, it's over. You won." Tom was to her right, his hands on her arm to calm her down. Jackie kneeled next to Marco, she undid the straps of his iron armour to see how bad he was hurt and tossed the iron chest plate to the side.

When Star saw how scared and worried her friends looked, clarity came back to her. She looked around the room and saw the carnage that the two created, dismay washed over her. Then she saw Marco, curled up in a ball and groaning while Jackie consoled him, she noticed the chest plate where she could see a powerful indent that was created where her spell had struck. Her butterfly form vanished and she stood there, trying to make sense to what had happened in the last few minutes.

"I… I just wanted to help him." Her voice trembled as tears welled in her eyes.

"Marco, don't!" Jackie instructed him as he tried picking himself up, he used the sword he dropped next to him as support, holding his stomach with his free arm. A small trickle of blood ran from his mouth. He glared at Star; his eyes still filled with determination to finish the fight. Even when he took a blow like that he refused to quit.

Star didn't know what to do. She could beat him easy, stop him from making the worst decision of his life. Or she could betray herself and let him go. She was stuck at a crossroad and didn't know what the right choice was.

Marco hobbled over to the door. He could have easily chosen to go through a window, or one of the several holes they made in the walls. But it would mean nothing if he chose either of those options. He stood in front of the door, slowly stood straight up with painful moans, and slid his sabre back into its sheath. And he stood there, waiting.

The lumination from the doorknob disappeared, with the door being accessible now, Marco departed without a word. Tom and Kelly quickly followed behind, mostly concerned with Marco's health, they looked back pensively at Star, who quickly broke down in Jackie's arms.


	11. Chapter 11

Star laid in her bed and stared at the wall, nothing went through her mind, she was lost. Originally, she thought she was doing the right thing, she thought she was being a good friend. But now her recent actions have led her to doubt herself. Was she really a good friend?

She hadn't spoken to Marco in nine months, and when she finally had some free time she learned of his tragedy. She thought that Marco needed help so she rushed to him, only to find he needed a different kind of help than what she thought. But when she learned of his intentions, of what he wanted, she fought him, because she thought he was wrong; she thought that Marco needed reminding of who he was. But every turn she was met with a brick wall until she took drastic measures, and now she may have done more harm than help to Marco. She may have very well destroyed their friendship.

If Star could cry any more, she would have, but she exhausted all the tears she could.

"Star?" A concerned Jackie slowly entered her room, Star's back was to her. "We've cleaned up the best we could, but there's a lot of damage still left."

"Yeah, I don't think a new coat of paint will do the trick." Janna chimed in and looked at her phone. She spoke nonchalantly as though Star and Marco didn't just have a miniature war in the next room over. She grumbled in pain and glared at Jackie who elbowed her arm.

"Star," Jackie sat on her bed. "I know you're hurt; I know you need time to process what happened and sort yourself out. But Marco still needs us."

"Does he?" She didn't turn over to address Jackie. "I've been trying Jackie, trying to help him. But nothing worked, I can't help him. I can't do anything for him. I was oblivious to what happened for seven months and he didn't come to me for help. What does that say of our relationship?"

"Well, he didn't come to us either. But you're right, none of us were able to help him, but what about after?"

"After what?"

"After he gets back. None of us could stop him, we all tried, but maybe we were never supposed to. Marco went through an experience none of us could image, and that changed him, not for the better, but he changed. And the reason he was so stubborn was because he had a goal, a driving force he refused to be deterred from. But after he gets back, he won't have anything, but he'll still have us so long as we're there for him. I think we were never supposed to change his mind, just help him after he hits his lowest point. That's when we'll be needed and get our Marco back."

Jackie's words were inspiring, but they didn't affect Star. "But I hurt him, Jackie, I was so self-absorbed from what I wanted from him that I didn't think of what he wanted. I didn't once think that maybe he was right, maybe he did need this. Not us. I tried taking away the one thing he wanted most in the world, and now I've destroyed what relationship we had left. Marco is never going to trust me again."

Jackie took a deep breath and pulled Star up to face her, she didn't put up a fight, just stayed limp. Jackie could see that Star's eyes were red and puffy.

"Look at me Star." She demanded.

Star didn't, her eyes were fixed on look downwards, focusing on nothing in particular. Then her vision went out of focus as her head snapped to the right and a sting was felt on her left cheek and a small bang reverberated through the room.

Janna's was wide-eyed as her attention was no longer on her phone. Star felt her cheek and her face stung when she touched it. She saw that Jackie glared at her; her right hand crossed her body with an open palm.

"Who are you?" Jackie asked, well it was more of a command than a question.

"Wh- What?" Star was still a bit shaken.

"Who are you?" Jackie repeated with more authority.

"Star Butterfly?" It was a loose answer and Jackie asked the same question a third time.

"Star Butterfly!"

"That's right, you are Star Freaking Butterfly." Jackie grasped Star's arms tightly. "When we were kids you were a princess from the kingdom of Mewni, you fought monsters, spontaneous beyond belief, waved magic around irresponsibly, loved by everyone, and saved your kingdom countless times before you were even sixteen! Whenever people were in danger you were there to save them, when you caused a problem with your magic you worked to fix it, when a friend was in need you were on the scene to help. Star Butterfly was a girl who didn't know the word 'quit' or how to give up! Now, where'd that girl go?"

"Jackie, I- I- I- don't know what-?" Star was flabbergasted, she didn't know how to respond.

"WHERE'D SHE GO!" Jackie yelled at her, something no one's heard her do.

"HERE, she's right here!" Star said without thinking. "I just- I just don't know what to do."

"Yes you do!" Jackie relaxed and smiled at Star, the intensity from her dialled down and she was back to her usual chill self. "But you need to think, or in your case not think, about what we need to do. You're not really giving up, are you?"

"No… I'm not." Jackie's words reached her that time. She was right, Star was better than wallowing in self-pity. She helped create a bridge between Monster and Mewman relations. She defeated a number of great threats throughout the universe. She was amazing and crying wasn't going to do her or anyone any good. Star wiped the bit of snot and tears from her face and slapped both her cheeks to hype herself up.

"You're right Jackie, Marco may be different, but I'm still me, and I refuse to give up on Marco! We may never have been able to stop him, but he still needs us. He refused our help not because we didn't side with him, but because we were trying to provide our kind of help at the wrong time. We thought because he lost his family he'd be broken, be he was given a new purpose that kept him moving, but once that's gone, he'll have to stop. That is when we step in. That's when Marco will look to us for help."

"That's my girl!" Jackie blurted with pride seeing Star back to her old self. "But are you really okay with letting him kill someone?"

"No Jackie, I'm not!" She hopped out of bed and stood tall. "We're giving this one more try. We're going to catch up to Marco and try and convince him once more before it's too late. But whether he listens to us or not, it'll be his decision on what to do next. But whatever he does, we'll be there for him, and if he tries pushing us away again, we're just going to pull him towards us."

"Alright!" Jackie followed suit and got off the bed, the energy that came from Star was infectious. "Which way did they go?"

Star hesitated and took a second to ponder, but she didn't know. Marco, Kelly and Tom actually kept that information from her and the other two. It had been a couple of hours and they could have gone in any direction. Star had no idea where to start.

"They're about 20 miles south of here." Janna kept her eyes glued to her phone and pointed to her left with her thumb.

Star and Jackie looked at her quizzically. "How do you know that?"

"Planted a tracker on Marco." She showed her phone to the two who saw a green radar with a bullseye that had three circles and a dot past the furthest circle, almost out of range.

"But we may want to hurry, if you want to try and convince him one more time, we're about to lose our window." She swiped her phone and the screen changed to a shaky video. There was a lot of movement that made it hard to see anything, but they were certain they could see Kelly and Tom, and arms that looked like they belonged to Marco. They had a POV of what Marco was doing right now. But there was a fourth object, it was easy to spot with the surrounding area being only in black. Getting an accurate description was too difficult as both it and the camera kept moving too fast, but it looked like a blue and gold blur.

"Janna, when'd you have time to bug Marco?" Jackie asked. They knew that this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Janna to do. But it still concerned the two.

"A few years ago, in Highschool." Janna snickered proudly.

The other two girls thought it best to leave the subject alone. Especially since they had more pressing matters ahead.

"Okay," Star said as she transformed. "Let's go!"


	12. Chapter 12

"We're closing in, just keep going straight." Janna yelled over the wind. She was wrapped around Star's left side with Jackie on the right. Thanks to Star's high-speed flying and Janna's navigation, they made great time.

"Look, there they are!" Jackie pointed down, she spotted a few coloured objects between the black foliage. Star saw where she pointed and flew down. As they landed, they could see the battle was already over with smouldering scorch marks on a few trees, spots where the ground was destroyed, and a couple of trees had fallen over.

Tom was next to Kelly who sat on the ground, he was administering first aid to her.

"Kelly?!" Star saw she was injured and rushed over.

"Star? What are you doing here?" Kelly asked.

"Later. Are you okay?" She inspected her friend, checking for injuries.

"It's okay, he just got me a little." She removed her left hand to reveal a torn piece of cloth wrapped around her arm.

"It doesn't look too bad," Tom reassured. "But I think we should still get her to a doctor to be looked at."

"We can do that later. But for now…" Kelly directed everyone's attention to Marco, separated from his friends. His left side faced them.

He breathed heavily and stood over someone who kneeled in front of him. The unknown man wore a long blue coat that was reminiscent of a naval captain's uniform with golden hem and shoulder frills, and a simple undershirt with a draw-string that exposed a bit of an open chest. Dirty white pants were ripped at the bottom and brown boots that had been ripped and torn from being extensively worn.

Despite his dirty attire, he had beautiful long golden hair that reached to the ground and laid around him and green eyes. He had a surprisingly small, handsome face with delicate features. Star expected a rough, scary man with scars to show how many battles he'd been through. And the last thing she recognized is that from just past his elbows, he was missing his arms. Rope tied his arms to his body.

Two blood-stained prosthetic blades laid beside him. One was a silver blade with both sides a sharp edge, the other was a black curved blade that was serrated.

That was him. That was Targil.

He stared at Marco with as much intensity and hatred as Marco to him. Marco grasped his sabre tightly as though it was his very lifeline. He kept his eyes locked on to Targil and lifted his sword high above his head with both hands.

"MARCO, WAIT!" Star cried. He heard her, he stopped from swinging it down to end it all. But he never looked away from his hated enemy. Star crept closer to him, slowly.

"Okay, Marco, I get it. I know you want this; you need this. I understand now. But please, this isn't you. You're not hateful, you're not vengeful. I can't stop you; I know that now, but please remember who you are. Think of your family, they wouldn't want this from you. They wouldn't want you going down a path of hatred and sorrow. They'd want you to be happy, to be living the best you that's possible. So please, put down the sword. I'm sorry for early, I was thinking of myself, but whatever you decide I'll be here for you, no matter what. But I am begging you, don't do it."

She had reached him, both her words and her body. Marco was hesitant, Star could see that she was getting through to him. Marco's hands shook, he internally wrestled with himself. Was he the Marco who knew honour and responsibility, that made amazing nachos and loved to ride dragoncycles, or was he a man on a mission who had an iron will and a determination that rivalled the passage of time itself? His face contorted in anguish as his two identities fought over supremacy until finally, a victor was decided.

Marco lowered his arms, slowly. With a sigh of defeat, his arms hung by his sides, his sword in his right hand. Star looked at him proudly, tears welled in her eyes as she affectionately touched his free arm. Janna and Jackie were just as relieved, even Tom and Kelly who had been supporting him all this time were happy with the outcome. They may have sided with him, but they didn't want their friend to do something as dark as they have both experienced.

A chuckle broke the silence that soon turned to a howl of laughter. It came from Targil who swung his head back.

"Oh Marco," he said as he calmed down enough to speak. "I am so disappointed in you. But honestly, I'm not surprised. I knew you couldn't do it! I spent years planning this, planning my perfect revenge. After I got out of my dimension, I found someone who could give me tools to kill with again, and then I search for you. It took me a while, but imagine my surprise when I found you, younger than when we first met, and you had a family. And that's when I knew exactly what I'd do! You took away what I cared for most: my ability to wield power. So I took away what you loved most! I kept my old knife and left it where I slaughtered your family so you knew who and why, and how easy it was. Your father didn't even put up a decent fight before I skewered your mother and sister together. I knew you'd come for me after that, I knew we'd eventually meet after I left you to stew in your hatred and regret. That I would be the only thing that you could think of! And I knew that when we'd meet again and you'd beat me like last time. Your backup is unexpected, but not a factor that changed my calculations significantly. I knew that when you'd beat me, even after all the pain and suffering I put you through, you'd still be unable to kill me! Just like last time. We could fight one hundred times and I wouldn't be able to beat you even once, but I would still win with just our first fight; because you'd let the other ninety-nine happen. You can't win against me Marco Diaz, because you don't have what it takes! This is my revenge! The knowledge that I won, that I will always win no matter how many times we fight! You will live the rest of your days knowing that this is all because of you! Because you can not- "

A flash of silver.

A spray of red.

A dead silence.

Everyone was shocked, surprised even. They didn't know what happened.

Marco's arm was outstretched, a fresh trail of blood ran down his sword.

Targil was silent at first, unsure of what had happened himself. But then he gave a gargled sound as blood poured out of his neck. He collapsed on his side, convulsing as a pool formed around him. But soon his struggling stopped, and he lay there, lifeless.

Star was horrified. She had seen battles, taught how to decapitate an enemy with her bare hands, she even witnessed Toffee perish before her. But this was different, this was a murder. This was the first time she saw someone die in front of her.

"Marco?" She asked in a shaky voice and slowly turned to him.

"You heard him Star," he responded emotionlessly. "This was the only way. I didn't need to beat him, I needed to defeat him. But I didn't let him suffer, not like how he would allow others to, not like how he allowed my family. Just long enough for him to know death was coming and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Long enough to know that I won. That I… that I… I…"

Marco dropped his sword. He collapsed to his knees and clutched himself. And for the first time since the loss of his family, he wept.

Star crouched down and embraced him, tears ran down her own face. She wasn't happy with this end, with his decision. But it was his, and she stood by it. But now she was beside him, held him so tightly that she refused to let go. Now was the time that she needed to help him, now was the time that Marco needed her. Everyone else surrounded him and followed Star's lead, they all held him tightly, letting him know he wasn't alone.

Everyone was wrong, they thought that Marco survived that day. But they could see that Marco Diaz died with his family. But now he was back, now he lived again.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure you can't stay?" Star asked, delicately trying to persuade him to stay.

"Yeah Star, I can't be here anymore. I have to do this." Marco zipped up his duffle bag of what few clothes he had.

It had been one month since Marco came with Star to Mewni. One month since he finished his business with Targil. Ever since then Marco Diaz wasn't the same. He was no longer the happy and precautious boy in the past who was focused on his future, and he was no longer the angry and hateful young man who lost his family and was stuck in the past. Now he felt hollow, just drifted through life one day at a time.

He counted his blessings for having such good friends, Star most of all. Every day she would check on him, rarely left him alone. Sometimes she even focused more on his well being than her actual job. And that was okay.

After Star told Eclipsa what had happened in the last few weeks she's been gone, the queen immediately offered Marco a place to stay at the Monster Temple and has helped with psychological therapy and grief counselling. Albeit, Marco wasn't too thrilled that the man who would be overseeing this was a familiar grey-haired gentleman with a ponytail and constantly spoke in a relaxed tone, but he never argued or refused to attend a single session.

Marco made his way down the stairs with Star in tow, she was reluctant to let him leave, but she would support his decision. Marco's friends waited for him at the bottom, all ready to see him off.

"Goodbye Marco, it was wonderful having you stay with us again. I just wish it was under better circumstances." Eclipsa was the first to say her farewells as she gave him a meaningful hug.

"Thank you, Queen Eclipsa, and for all the help you've given me." They released from their embrace and Marco face her husband and daughter. Meteora was in her father's arms and glared angrily and Marco, after all this time she still hated him for reasons she didn't understand. Marco gave a childish smirk as he knew there was no helping it and reached into his pocket to pull out a small finger puppet penguin and handed it to the half-breed. After all this time his sister still held on to that thing, as though there was an important memory connected to it.

"Here, think you can hold on to this for me?" Meteora was hesitant at first, but greedily snatched it from him and held it close. It would be a long time until the young princess could understand why she can't see here close friend anymore, but she knew that she missed her.

"Goodbye Marco, take care of yourself." The giant monster who held his daughter kindly said.

"Thanks, King Globgor."

"Be careful out there Marco," Marco found himself in another hug, this time by the previous queen, Moon Butterfly. She stepped back from him and gently clasped her hands on his cheeks, as only a mother would. "And remember, you'll always have a place in Mewni."

"Thanks, Moon." He wiped a tear away, having a physical display of maternal affection felt good, so good that it hurt a little.

"Oh, Marco, my boy!" Marco was then caught in a third hug, but this one was more like a grizzly hug that gave him no wiggle room. This one just plainly hurt. "And if you ever need help, don't be afraid to find me, I'll be there lickety-split!"

"Thanks, River." Marco wheezed. After all these years River still refused to wear anything but a loincloth, the whole situation weirded Marco out. He was released from the death grip and was greeted by his first girlfriend; she had a smile on her face, but not the welcoming and relaxed smile Jackie usually had, it was apprehensive.

"How have things with Chloé been?" His phrasing was a bit like strained as he tried to catch his breath after River's goodbye.

"Better. I've learned something after spending time with you Marco: life's too short and you'll never know when the people you care for won't be in your life anymore. If things aren't supposed to be between us then that's how things were supposed to be, but I'm not giving up without a fight." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Stay amazing, okay?"

"Sure thing, Jackie." He rubbed his cheek and faced the next person, who had the least welcoming expression. Hekapoo crossed her arms and avoided eye contact, her cheeks looked a bit pushy. The fact that she even showed up was amazing.

"I'm sorry for putting you through all that, for burdening you with so much responsibility that you had no business dealing with. I had no right to do that." He felt guilty after relying on and then ignoring her.

"Yeah well, maybe next time don't act so selfish." She grumbled. Marco didn't know what else to say and Hekapoo didn't look too talkative towards him, so he moved to the next.

"Hey," Marco stopped in his tracks and looked back to her, she gave him a sideways glance. "Seriously, think about how you affect other people, because they're thinking of you. Also, stop by my place once and a while, if not for either of us then at least for Nachos, she misses you." Marco gave a weak smile and nodded. Partly a silent promise that he would make sure to keep and partly a relief that he didn't screw everything up.

"Take care man," Tom was the next one down the line. He actually had a jolly smile to him, as though he was the only one who wasn't worried for Marco. "And since you're going to be out there you should visit the Galdyus dimension. It's got these awesome waterfalls of liquified crystals. I don't even know how you liquify a crystal!"

"Sounds cool." The two locked hands and pulled each other in for a quick hug and release.

The next goodbye was one of the more difficult to face. Marco felt guilty, he put his friends in danger and through a turbulent time that he helped create. He acted selfishly without anyone else's feelings being considered, but his guilt felt heaviest whenever he looked at Kelly.

Star sent Janna to go along with Kelly to a doctor immediately after Marco calmed down a bit from his breakdown, he later received news that her arm needed stitches, but that wasn't the worst part. Apparently, some nerves were severed, so long as Kelly didn't do any strenuous movement for a few months her arm would be okay, but still never be the same again. His foolishness nearly cost his friend her arm, and it could have been worse than that.

"Kelly, I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me you'd have never gotten hurt. I never came to you because I didn't think you'd help, but when you did, I just accepted it without arguing. I never once thought that I was putting your lives in danger despite knowing how dangerous Targil was. This never should have happened; I never should have let you come along. I should have-"

Kelly put a finger to his mouth to quiet his rambling.

"The only thing you have to apologize for is thinking you had to do it alone. And it's not like I haven't been in life-threatening situations where I nearly died before. And I'm not losing my arm, sure it will never be the same but that's okay if that was the price to help you, I'd pay it again and again if it meant saving you. Besides, it'll be a pretty sweet scar when it heals."

Marco still felt guilt, but her words were reassuring and they hugged it out. And now Marco was on his last goodbye.

Star was the only who didn't look like she was being strong or putting up a front and held herself limply. She was genuinely heartbroken that he was leaving. But she wasn't going to fight him, not again. She knew he needed this, he actually needed it this time.

"Just promise me, Marco, promise that you'll stay in contact and that you'll be safe. Just call me, so I know that you're okay, just so I can stop worrying a little bit every day." She looked at him with big puppy dog eyes, tears about to burst.

"Star, I-"

"Don't worry Star," Janna cut in by jumping on Marco's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had her own bag strapped to her back, filled with a couple of her belongings. "I'll be there to take care of him, so don't you worry."

"Janna, get off." Marco gasped as her arms cut off oxygen. She dismounted as requested but kept her left arm around his neck, pulling him close to her.

"Aw, come on Marco, we're gonna have so much fun together! Just image all the weird places we can explore. Maybe we'll find a cursed gem that unleashes a super powerful horror that bestows us with supernatural abilities, but the cost is us of losing our personal identities." She phrased that cryptically that made Marco uneasy and he had second thoughts of bringing Janna.

"You sure you want to go along with him Janna?" Star asked her friend and did not register the creep factor that Marco felt.

"Marco's not the only person who needs a revamp. So when he said he would travel through dimensions to find himself, there was no way I could refuse after offering to take me along for the ride. Honestly, though, I think I do need this as much as he does, I need to really learn who I am. And don't worry, even if he doesn't, I'll make sure to give you constant updates." Janna flaunted her own Reflectacor Pocket Mirror from her jacket. It had a black casing with bats, snakes, and a skull engraved on the back. It was a newer model that didn't flip over but was designed more like a smartphone with the entire front face being a mirror.

"Well, with the exception of Janna, I promise I'll be okay Star. And I also promise to keep in touch." Marco received his final goodbye hug, but this one was different than the rest. It was one he really needed, one that he didn't want to break away from, one that felt like time froze and they could stay like that forever. But he knew he had to leave.

He stepped back and wiped another tear from his eye. He pulled out his dimensional scissors and cut a hole through space, creating a doorway to another dimension. Janna was far more excited than he was to go off on their adventure through the universe. She gave everyone a 'later' and hopped through the portal. Marco was more hesitant. One leg through the portal he looked back to see his friends all gathered together, wishing him the best of luck. He smiled and gave a wave goodbye, then vanished.

The portal closed and they were gone. Moon Butterfly saw how unwrapped her daughter had become and held her close and assured her daughter. "It's okay dear. Marco will be fine."

"I know mom," Star squeaked. "I just wish I could have done more for him."

"You've done more than anyone could have asked of you," she wiped her daughter's face of the tears. "Besides, if he's ever in need of help again, he'll know he has friends he can turn to."

Moon's words helped calm her down, Star sniffled back mucus and hugged her mother again. "Thanks mom."

**-Another Dimension—**

Janna looked at Marco disappointed.

"Dude, I thought we were going to explore the universe! Why are we back in Echo Creek? This is the last place I thought we'd star at." She complained.

"Don't worry, I just have one last goodbye to make." The portal disappeared and Marco walked in the opposite direction of where he appeared and pushed past a large iron gate.

Janna stayed behind when she read the sign above the gate that was previously blocked by the portal. She decided to hang back, allowed Marco to go in alone.

There were few other people he passed by, they attended to their own business. He wistfully walked past all the stones that lined past him in a row as he marched on the smooth stone walkway, searching for the right marker.

"Should be somewhere around…" He noticed the large slab that he was looking for and headed straight towards it, deriving off the path.

He inspected every detail, it was large and black that reflected the sunlight, a rough white finish helped outline the names of his family; and their dates. Underneath, the epitaph read _Here lies Rafael, Angie, and Mariposa Diaz, loving family. Hoping that their son and brother, Marco Diaz, is safe._

"Hey," Marco's voice was shaky and he grasped the strap to his duffle bag he slung over his shoulder tightly. "So you probably have been wondering where I've been for the past year…"

**Thank you all for supporting my work, your compliments and criticism have meant a lot to me. This actually ended up being about 5 chapters longer than I originally intended. I hope to see you reading anything else I may write, that being said, I do currently have an idea for a new story I'll be starting. Much more light-hearted and comedic than this tale. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me.**


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